eleveneleven was a record label founded in 2010 by Mike Hamlin,Ellen DeGeneres and her production company,A Very Good Production, in association with longtime affiliateWarner Bros. DeGeneres announced it on hertalk show, saying that the label would concentrate on lesser known artists and that she had been looking for videos of performances onYouTube. DeGeneres explained her choice of name, claiming that she often sees the number11:11 when looking at her clocks, that she foundGreyson Chance on the 11th, and that the singer's soccer jersey has the number 11.[1] All of the artists on the label have been distributed viaInterscope Geffen A&M.
The first act to be signed to the label wasGreyson Chance, who gained fame after his cover ofLady Gaga's "Paparazzi" performed at a school inEdmond, Oklahoma wentviral.[2] He released his debut albumHold On 'til the Night on August 2, 2011. In 2022, Chance recalled being "completely abandoned" by DeGeneres and the label after he signed in 2010. He stated that DeGeneres came off as "controlling" until he started to underperform and then she grew distant, eventually dropping him.[3]
On September 16, 2010, DeGeneres announced her label's second signed artist, Tom Andrews, from the United Kingdom.[4]
In the fall of 2010, the label signedJessica Simpson. She released her first album under the label calledHappy Christmas on November 22, 2010.
In March 2011, DeGeneres announced that she had signedSavannah Robinson to her label and had her on the show to perform a duet withJennifer Hudson.[5]
In October 2011, DeGeneres announced that she had signedCharlie Puth and Emily Luther to her label after seeing their cover ofAdele's "Someone Like You". Puth & Luther performed the song on the show. On January 25, 2012, they came back toThe Ellen DeGeneres Show and performedLady Antebellum's "Need You Now" and an original written by Puth titled "Break Again" (co-written with Robert Gillies).[6] In 2022, Puth acknowledged that he and Greyson Chance had markedly different experiences at their label. While Puth said he never encountered the kind of rudeness others had reported, he agreed with Chance’s criticism that the label lacked meaningful support—particularly after the release of his first demo EP. He clarified that he wasn't placing blame on any one individual, but rather on the collective group.[7] Puth signed toAtlantic in 2015.[8]
The eleveneleven section on her official website shortlisted the four most popular acts from the web and asked for a democratic voting from her community to help her make an informed choice on the next artist to be signed to the label.[9]
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